Review: Incipio Feather for iPhone 4

It seems iPhone users fit into about three camps—those who want to use their phone naked, those who want a basic case, and those who want it to survive any sort of catastrophic adventures they can throw at it. With the iPhone 4, there has been a new category of cases that aim to offer something in between nothing and the traditional case that we’ve seen used on most iPhones. Apple’s Bumper is a great example of such product, but for those who want a little more protection, Incipio offers the Feather, a $25 case that really won’t protect your iPhone from drops, but will protect the sides and back from scrapes and scratches.

Available in over twenty color choices, the feather is available with a few different finishes, including a rubberized matte texture, a glossy “chrome” texture, translucent, or even a pearl. The 1mm thick Feather snaps on the back of the iPhone with little ridges to keep it firmly locked on to the stainless steel antenna band. It’s fairly easy to remove if you work around one of the corners first.

Unlike many other cases, including Apple’s Bumper, the Feather does not have a lip around the screen, so if you set the phone face-down, the glass will be in contact with the surface. Also, the Feather has large gaps of open area near the volume buttons and mute switch, along with the top and bottom of the case. This is both a positive in that the Feather has excellent compatibility with third-party accessories and works with both the GSM (AT&T/world) and CDMA (Verizon) models, but leaves areas vulnerable. Then again, since the Bumper is the other “minimal” case that comes to mind, the whole back is exposed. Really, in the case of the Feather, one simply needs to understand the exposed areas, although the corners being covered are a huge plus.

Similar to SwitchEasy, Incipio offers a few extras in the package, including two screen protectors, a cleaning cloth, and an applicator card. Although these items really aren’t much to write home about themselves, they do add value to the Feather.

Our only gripe is that the edges doesn’t extend further to create that lip around the screen, but as far as cases go, it’s about as close to naked as you can get.

The One-Sentence Verdict™

Incipio’s Feather is a good option for those who want a minimalist iPhone case and are willing to live without protection from drops.